


The Dragon's Boredom

by Kaliamissywissywoo



Category: No Fandom, Original Work
Genre: Angst, Familiars, Fantasy, Fluff, Human Pets, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Lore - Freeform, Master/Pet, Master/Slave, Nonbinary Character, Other, Pining, Possessive Behaviour, Slow Burn, Witch - Freeform, alchemist, dragon - Freeform, humans as pets, magic familiars, magic world, referenced transphobia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:42:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26424331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaliamissywissywoo/pseuds/Kaliamissywissywoo
Summary: The Great Thunder Dragon is older than the Albion Empire, older even than the shape of the land.  And he is bored.  He has filled his immortal life with every hedonistic pleasure, followed every sadistic whim, had a hundred thousand lovers and a million enemies, and watched them all crumble to dust, forgotten by time.  Now he sits and waits for something, anything, to happen which he hasn't seen a thousand times before.  Then, the apprentice alchemist Marrow Talonfeather wanders obliviously into his den, and maybe they hold the key to breaking his lethargy.
Comments: 35
Kudos: 51





	1. Humans can be Funny

A thunderstorm was brewing overhead, the distant growl overshadowed by the omnipresent sound of falling rain. Marrow pushed sodden hairs off their forehead and wiped their glasses free of moisture with the back of their hand as they trudged through the mud. They pushed overhanging vines out of their way and stepped over the gnarled roots of overgrown trees. The forest was solemn that evening, almost contemplative, as they made their way towards the ruins of the old temple.

If their uncle’s scrying was right, and it was rarely wrong, there was a harpy squatting in the ruins which littered the forest like scars. The temple was one of few that hadn’t collapsed in on itself, the whole structure looming above Marrow as they stepped into the clearing. They couldn’t help but admire it. Flying buttresses, half-collapsed with age, snaked up to a central tower holding a rusted golden bell the size and weight of a garden shed. They decided not to stand anywhere near the middle of the building for fear of the thing collapsing on top of them.

“Hello!” they called as they reached the entrance. Once there might have been a door there, but the wood had long since rotted. Rain made a welcome mat of muddy water. “I’m unarmed, and I seek no conflict!” They paused a moment, straining their ears above the sound of the rain. Did they imagine a figure in the rafters above? Or, were there shifting footsteps behind the walls? They shuffled their wellington boots against the stone steps with a squeak of rubber, waiting.

“Go away,” came the eventual response. It was a clear, irritated, female voice which seemed to come from every angle.

“I’m really not here to make trouble,” Marrow insisted, putting their hands up. “I know I smell like magic but I’m unbonded. No threat to one as powerful as you, eh?” they tried for flattery, their voice catching a little as they forced their face into a lopsided smile.

“You need to leave,” the harpy responded, and this time Marrow did see the figure in the rafters, yellow eyes reflecting what little light escaped through the broken windows, giving the impression they were glowing. She was clinging to a high beam, her feathers puffed up either for a threat display or from the cold.

“Easy,” Marrow said, slowly sinking down until they sat cross-legged on the floor without moving their hands from either side of their head. “I’ve come from Tadam. You’ve been spotted there a few times and people are getting restless. My uncle, well my boss technically, sent me to let you know that you need to be careful if you’re going to make a habit of it.”

“Humans do not give caution without ulterior motives,” the harpy snarled. Marrow winced.

“That obvious, huh? Well, I was hoping we could make a deal. My uncle runs an alchemical shop, and he was hoping he could have a few feathers. Just the ones that fall out naturally, of course. I’ve brought a few things.” They slowly reached behind their back. The harpy hissed but they continued, letting the rucksack fall to the floor and dragging it around. There was a copper kettle tied to one of the straps along with some mugs and from inside they drew an old, dented biscuit tin. They removed a metal flask still hot to the touch and set everything out.

“You are offering… tea, dried bits of forest I could have gathered myself, in exchange for potent magic. Your kind is more arrogant than I thought.” The harpy shifted into the light, and Marrow stiffened their spine at the sight of vicious claws effortlessly scraping into the stone. They swallowed and tried to keep their voice steady.

“The tea is for free. As was the advice, by the way. We always make tea before negotiations.” They started to pour hot water into the kettle, reaching into the biscuit tin and drawing out a small bundle of herbs and dried flowers, dropping them into the kettle and watching as colour began to bleed into the clear liquid. The harpy dropped to the ground and began stalking closer and they fought back the urge to jump and run.

“Is it poisoned?” The harpy was plump, with wide hips and a round face. Feathers covered her head and shoulders, from which a pair of wings lay against the harpy’s side curled tight to the body. Marrow shook their head and poured themselves a cup and took a sip to prove it. They preferred sugar in their tea, but this would do. They gestured silently to the other cup. The harpy grumbled something barely audible and crouched down. The claws at the elbows of her wings hooked around the handle of the mug and she brought it to her face to sniff. After concluding it wasn’t poisoned, she held it out and Marrow poured some tea in it, careful not to spill any. After taking a moment to sit and drink, the harpy finally seemed to relax her posture.

“I’m Marrow,” Marrow said with a gentle smile.

“Lila,” the harpy said. “You really shouldn’t be here.”

“I can handle myself against anything the forest throws at me. I’m tough, though I know I don’t look it!” they gave an easy laugh. The harpy looked them up and down and seemed to conclude that they did indeed look far from what she would describe as “tough.”

“Well,” the harpy hesitated a second, “sir? Madam?”

“Neither.”

“Human it is then,” Lila said, seeming relieved. “There are things in this forest your kind don’t know about.” She took another long sip. “You make excellent tea, and I admit that you’re ever so slightly less disgusting than the usual human filth.”

Marrow laughed. “I’m flattered, I think?”

“But,” the harpy set her cup down and pressed on, “you are like a mouse wandering into the bed of a sleeping cat, making yourself at home in its nest. You will die if you stay here.”

“I can’t just never come back to the forest,” Marrow objected, frowning with unease. “Where else would we get the ingredients for the shop? We’d go out of business!”

Lila rolled her eyes. “Petty human concerns, typical. No, not the forest itself.” She hesitated a moment. “Here. This ruin.”

Marrow felt themselves gulping. “You mean there’s something… right here?”

Lila nodded. “You should leave, before he finds you.”

They wanted to grab everything and run right then. Instead, their curiosity was piqued. They shifted a little closer.

“What lives in this ruin?”

Lila sighed and drank the last of her tea. “To a creature like you, he would probably be a god. I’ll not say any more.”

“Oh, please!” Marrow shuffled forward even further, hands on their knees. “How am I supposed to avoid him if I don’t know what I’m looking for?”

“Just get out of here before he decides to make your femur his next toothpick,” Lila warned, getting to her feet, and looking down at the kneeling human with a cold expression. Marrow opened their mouth to object and shut it again. As insatiably curious as they were, the knowledge of what precisely lived in the old temple ruin would be useless to them if they were dead. They’d return, they decided, with their uncle and a few other bound witches if their uncle could rally them. Maybe they could scry, like they had with the harpy, and find out from afar.

“Thank you for your hospitality,” they said with a bow once their mind was made up. They bent to retrieve their kettle and stopped. The harpy was on one knee, head bowed, silent. For a second, they thought she was bowing to them, like some strange force had possessed her. That’s when they realised that the rain had stopped.

 _“Well, well, well-well-well.”_ Marrow grimaced and held the side of their head. They didn’t _think_ that, did they? But it was in their head. They didn’t hear it; it was just in their mind like some sort of hallucination. The voice was deep, and it rumbled like an avalanche. They shook their head but there it was again, almost painful for how _wrong_ it was. _“Lila, dear, you shouldn’t have.”_

“They were just leaving, master,” Lila said. Marrow’s eyes widened. She wasn’t kneeling at them; she was kneeling at something just behind them. Slowly, they began to turn.

 _“Oh, but why would they want to do that?”_ Marrow gave a tiny squeak as something hard and cold, like stone, pressed against the small of their back and traced its way up their spine to their neck.

“I-I-I…” Marrow began. They felt their throat closing around the words, choking on them. It was like their body was trying to shut them up before they could say anything that would get them killed. “I’m s-so-sor-sorry to int-tr-trude, sir. P-please don’t eat me. I-I-I wouldn’t taste v-very good. I-I eat w-way too much sugar! A-a-and I’d hate to make a mess of your floors!”

This time, when the thing behind them made a sound, they didn’t hear it in their head. It was strange and snarling, but it undulated as it rose in volume and pitch. After a moment of terror, they realised the creature was _laughing_.

 _“Oh, what a sweet, considerate morsel!”_ Marrow felt the thing on their neck tighten ever so slightly. It was sharp, just barely avoiding cutting the fragile skin of their neck. It pressed into their chin, forcing their head to tilt upwards. _“Let me see your little face.”_

Marrow gave a stifled cry, holding back a scream only because of the sharp pressure on their neck. What they were looking at was the face of an enormous lizard, one with black scales shining with the moisture of the rain, its eyes yellow with slit pupils focused solely on them. Golden horns curled like a grand crown on its head and bone-like spikes framed its jawline. Smoke rose from its nostrils and Marrow could smell something not quite like fire there, something more like burned wire, almost clinical. They realised with a jolt that the thing pressing against them, that felt like an overly-long curved sword with one extremely wide, blunt edge, was just one of its long curving claws.

 _“What is your name, funny little morsel?”_ the impossible voice lodged into their head, jamming out all other thoughts, asked. It sounded smug, and though the creature’s face was expressionless and unreadable, Marrow could easily picture that it was smirking down at them.

“M-M… M-Ma-Mar-Marrow T-Tal-Talonfeather,” Marrow managed despite their throat closing in protest and their knees shaking with the urge to run.

 _“Marrow Talonfeather,”_ the voice seemed to be tasting the name, and Marrow could almost see the creature’s forked tongue swirl in its mouth. _“A pretty name. Yes, you may keep it.”_

“I-I’m sorry, what?” Marrow asked before they could stop themselves. The creature laughed again, and this time Marrow could see it as its mouth opened, displaying rows of horrifyingly sharp fangs, the gigantic throat huffing up clouds of acrid smoke. They felt the colour drain from their face.

 _“Oh, did I neglect to mention?”_ The claw on Marrow’s neck dipped to their clavicle and started tracing circles against their skin. _“I’m keeping you.”_


	2. Dragons can get Bored

The Great Thunder Dragon was bored. He had been bored for centuries. Empires rose and fell, rivers became lakes, lakes became valleys. He’d founded and toppled kingdoms. He’d fought and led armies. He’d hunted every creature on the planet and tasted its flesh. He’d courted and wooed, he’d broken hearts, had his heart broken. What was left for him? He’d done everything, everything there was to do. As he flew over the land his chest was heavy, as though someone had fused a boulder of solid lead to his scales. Stroking his thorax with the tips of his golden claws, he failed to feel anything more than the steady rise and fall of his breathing. Still, it was enough to cut his flight short. With one final roar which blended seamlessly into the clap of thunder, he dove back towards the little ruin he couldn’t be bothered to repair.

When he landed almost silently at the edge of the clearing, he let out a sigh and nosed at the spot where his wing muscles met his shoulders. Lila always made a point of shooing him out of the temple for a flight at least once every few days. Perhaps she was right; he was withering. He certainly wasn’t as strong as he used to be. Still, he didn’t have the energy to care. He turned his head back towards the temple and sniffed the air.

He stopped. Was that a mortal scent, here? In his home? Had the silly little things forgotten he was there? He tried to calculate how long it had been since he’d spoken to a mortal and found he just couldn’t remember. He didn’t smell blood, so it was unlikely to be a hunter or a knight. He sniffed the grass a little. He did smell a faint trace of magic, but there was no tell-tale scent of a spirit familiar. So, the mortal was unbonded? What could it possibly hope to accomplish by coming to him? Surely it wouldn’t expect to survive an encounter with Lila, let alone himself, if it made an attempt to attack?

He followed the scent, getting low to the ground like a cat ready to spring so he could quiet his claws and keep his nose close to the scent. As he approached, he could hear Lila’s voice. She was stern and dismissive as ever. He could almost perfectly picture her looking down her nose at whoever came to bother her during the little time she had to herself in the temple. It was a good sign she wasn’t being attacked. If he’d suspected that, he’d have ripped the head off whoever or whatever it was before they could so much as scream.

“You really shouldn’t be here,” he heard her say.

“I can handle myself against anything the forest throws at me.” The second voice was higher in pitch and far more animated than his servant’s deadpan tone. It sounded comfortable, almost… chatty. That was interesting. “I’m tough, though I know I don’t look it!” 

Then the mortal laughed, and he couldn’t help but smile. He couldn’t remember the last time he heard such an easy-going laugh, so full of mirth. He had the urge to sneak closer and see what this mortal looked like, to see them laugh. Not yet, he scolded himself. He settled in the grass and waited.

“Well. Sir, madam?”

“Neither.” 

He rolled his eyes. Oh, joy. Probably another one of those prophesied destroyers then. He’d lost count of the number of mortals who thought they could defeat him just because they weren’t technically “of woman born” or just because they were an amputee and so didn’t count as “any man on two legs.” Those who didn’t identify as men were common attempted adversaries, thinking that they were immune to lightning just because a prophecy foretold that no _man_ could kill him. What they failed to consider is that the oracles did genuinely mean that no _mortal_ , regardless of circumstances, could kill him. It’s just that most oracles were narrow-minded old coots more concerned with poetic prose than accuracy. This little one was particularly cocky if they thought they could defeat him while unbonded.

“Human it is then. There are things in this forest your kind don’t know about. You make excellent tea, and I admit that you’re ever so slightly less disgusting than the usual human filth.”

The laugh that came next was enchanting. It was so light and airy, so happy. This little thing hadn’t a care in the world that its species had been insulted, and they responded with genuine amusement.

“I’m flattered, I think?” 

That did it. He had to get closer. He had to see what this little mortal looked like. He edged just close enough that he could barely see into the wide-open space through one of the higher windows. Imagine his shock when he saw a dented little tea kettle, a human with their back to him sitting cross-legged on the floor. They weren’t wearing armour. In fact, they had nothing protective on their person at all. Their coat was a deep mossy green, made of some waterproof material the dragon didn’t recognise. Their boots were made of the same thing, but a vibrant blue. With their hood pulled down, the dragon could see a mop of curling orange hair cut an inch or so above the shoulders. They had a rucksack leaning against one of the ruined pillars in the temple, open so that at the high angle the dragon could see it was mostly full of items from the forest; twigs and leaves, flowers and mushrooms, and a few pouches too small to contain any weapons. Not a destroyer, then. What such a mortal, unbonded, unarmed, was doing in such a dangerous part of the forest the dragon could not hope to guess. But he would most definitely find out.

Their conversation continued and the mortal was starting to get scared. They got to their feet to give a polite bow ready to leave and that was _not_ going to happen. He nosed his head through the doorway and gave Lila a wink over the human’s shoulder. She glared but dutifully got down on one knee. She was overly familiar for a servant, but she was still loyal, and she respected his position, much as she nagged him to do more to uphold it. The human was confused, and he delighted in how oblivious they were.

 _“Well, well, well-well-well.”_ The human clutched their head in pain as he forced his way into their mind. The dragon conceded he’d have to be gentler with the delicate little thing and made his voice less forceful. _“Lila, dear, you shouldn’t have.”_

“They were just leaving, master.” The human no doubt missed it in their growing panic, but the dragon caught the venom in her voice. Having to put up with a mortal about the place would irritate her to no end. More fun for him.

 _“Oh, but why would they want to do that?”_ The human began to turn, and the dragon couldn’t have that. He wanted to savour the moment before they turned and saw exactly what they had every right to be so afraid of. Carefully, remembering distantly how fragile the damn things were, he raised the blunt edge of his claw to their tiny back and hooked it around their neck to keep them right where he wanted them.

“I-I-I… I’m s-so-sor-sorry to int-tr-trude, sir. P-please don’t eat me.” Ugh, he’d heard that plea before. But the human didn’t stop there. “I-I-I wouldn’t taste v-very good. I-I eat w-way too much sugar! A-a-and I’d hate to make a mess of your floors!” He snorted a bubble of smoke before bursting out laughing. When did humans get so funny? That settled it. This little thing wasn’t going anywhere.

 _“Oh, what a sweet, considerate morsel!”_ He dragged out the last word and almost purred at the shiver of fear he got in response. He couldn’t wait a moment longer. _“Let me see your little face.”_

Tilting their chin up with the blunt edge of his claw, he felt his tail sway excitedly. They were just so cute! Their bright blue doll eyes were made even bigger by the huge round glasses perched on their nose, and behind them he could see dark freckles peppering the pale skin. He wondered if they were everywhere, and if he could get the little thing to let him examine them more thoroughly.

_“What is your name, funny little morsel?”_

“M-M… M-Ma-Mar-Marrow T-Tal-Talonfeather.”

 _“Marrow Talonfeather.”_ A witch’s name, but no familiar. And the little thing didn’t seem to be too young to summon one. Marrow was a cute name, though, perfect for a new pet. _“A pretty name. Yes, you may keep it.”_

“I-I’m sorry, what?” He couldn’t help but laugh. The little mortal sounded almost offended! It may take some time before they accepted their new place, perhaps. Well worth the effort, of course.

 _“Oh, did I neglect to mention?”_ The dragon lowered his claw, pleased that the mortal didn’t look away, and lowered the little thing’s shirt enough to see their collar bone. Just as he suspected, there were freckles there too. He drew circles on their skin absent-mindedly. _“I’m keeping you.”_

The human and the harpy spoke up at once, but the human silenced themselves before more than a small sound could escape.

“Master, you can’t be serious! Where would we even put them?!” Lila was on her feet now, feathers puffed up in indignation.

 _“Wherever I like,”_ the dragon responded simply, lowering his claw from the mortal – Marrow’s – body, allowing them to slump forward in relief and terror.

“Humans are high-maintenance, greedy, stupid, bumbling, and stubborn! They’ll probably just complain the whole time or scream or cry or make suicidal escape attempts. It’s hardly worth the effort just to keep the stinking meat sack around.”

“Hey,” Marrow said, before realising what they were arguing against and silencing themselves.

 _“I wish to keep this one, and my word as your master is final,”_ he said. Then, focusing on only sending his thoughts to the harpy and leaving the human to their panic, he spoke in something like a whisper: _“They are the first thing in a thousand years to make me laugh.”_ Lila took a deep breath and let it go, turning her head away and flapping up into the rafters. It was her way of conceding. He knew that if she wished to argue she could do so for hours on end until he finally gave in and let her have her way. It was sweet of her, really.

He turned to Marrow, who was tiptoeing towards a broken window. He gave a puff of smoke and reached out a claw, causing the little thing to cry out and cover their face with their tiny arms. The dragon gingerly plucked them off the ground by pinching the back of their strange smooth coat between the meat of his talons. He chuckled as the little thing started flailing their arms in wide circles like a baby bird trying to figure out the difference between gliding and falling. The dragon held them up to his face and narrowed his eyes as he got a closer look. Under the strange waterproof coat there was a striped woollen jumper far too big for the little thing which hung halfway down their thighs. Under that, they wore tight trousers with mud stains on the knees tucked into the odd blue boots. Under the jumper, the dragon could see a collared shirt, the collar crooked and a little damp from the rain. What a cute little thing.

 _“No point struggling, little morsel,”_ the dragon said, reaching his other forepaw up to stroke the blunt edge of his claw against the human’s stomach. _“You’re_ my _pet now, and I always keep what’s mine.”_

“P-p…p-puh-pet?” Marrow just about managed to spit out, staring at the claw rubbing against their stomach like it was a poisonous snake. The dragon wanted to pinch their cheeks.

_“Of course. Ah, but it has been some time since my last. Perhaps your people have forgotten. No need to fret, little Marrow. You shan’t be harmed.”_

“B-but wait!” Marrow struggled a little, kicking their legs. “You can’t do that!”

_“Oh? And why not?”_

“I’m a person! I’m human!”

_“You are a witch, are you not? Does your kind not take spirit-folk as pets?_ _What is the difference, exactly?”_

“They—” Marrow swallowed. They were arguing with a dragon, a dragon holding them in the air as effortlessly as Marrow might hold a dried leaf. “They’re familiars. W-we can’t do practical magic without them!”

 _“Ah, and there is the difference. You shan’t be put to work, no, no. I expect you to clean up after yourself of course, but you’ll be no worker. No, you’re… a little companion. You’ll be cared for, pampered even, and all I expect in return is your… obedience.”_ The claw at their stomach raised and poked Marrow briefly on the nose. The tip was sharp enough that Marrow froze in fear of being stabbed if they squirmed.

“D-don’t I get a say?! Don’t I get to choose?!” Marrow was wriggling in their coat, kicking their legs.

 _“Oh, well fine.”_ The dragon lowered them to the ground, and they collapsed to their hands and knees, panting for breath. _“Here is your choice, human. You can be my pet, or you can be my meal.”_

“What… That’s not a choice!” Marrow’s eyes filled with angry tears, fists curled in their lap. “That’s a threat!”

 _“Well, if it displeases you so greatly then I suppose you’d rather be dead.”_ The dragon started leaning down. He only had to open his jaw just enough for the lips to part over the first few fangs before the human was crying out and covering their head with their arms.

“Wait w-wait wait please!” The dragon rumbled and watched as Marrow’s trembling worsened and they let out a small shaking sob. “I… I agree. I’ll be your… p-pet.”

 _“Good human.”_ The dragon raised a claw and ruffled Marrow’s hair with the meat of a talon. Marrow winced but didn’t shy away from the touch. Good, they were already learning. _“Should anyone ask, you are property of the Great Thunder Dragon. But you must always call me Master._ _Can you do that, little Marrow?”_

“Y-yes.” There was a growl and Marrow sank their head into their shoulders. “Y-y-yes, muh-master.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for sticking with me! i don't have a specific upload schedule yet but i'll try and stick with this one. i do have an ending in mind that i want to get to. huge thanks again to LurKingFisher, and Sekiraku who helped look over my chapter for me and who've been incredibly supportive! OH! and big thanks to Awkward_Dragon who did fanart of Marrow, Lila, and the dragon!!! it made my year!!! please let me know what you think if you have time. i'm always open to critique.


	3. Humans can Empathise

Marrow couldn’t help but squeal in panic as golden claws wrapped around them, tipping them into the hard scales of the dragon’s palm. They covered their head, bracing for breaking bones. The dragon’s laughter made them flinch.

 _“Such a silly little pet.”_ His voice cut through their thoughts, forcing them aside. It was intrusive, terrifying. _“I promise I shan’t hurt you so long as you obey.”_ That hardly comforted them, but it was enough of a departure from the grisly fates they were imagining that Marrow felt they could uncurl from the tight ball their body had formed and look up. The dragon was walking out into the clearing, his gait made somewhat awkward due to one of his forepaws being occupied, cupping the human to his rumbling chest. Was he purring? It was a far deeper, far louder sound than they’d ever heard a cat make but it was similar enough that Marrow couldn’t think of anything else to call it. The dragon set them down in the grass by tipping his paw so that Marrow slid out, landing on their back staring up at the face hovering directly above. The head came close and they closed their eyes tight, suppressing a whimper as scales brushed against their whole body. After a moment, they dared to open one eye and saw that the dragon was rubbing his face against them. He pushed against Marrow’s whole body with one cheek, then reared back to brush them with the other, purring all the while in that deep rumble. Marrow shuddered and tried to keep still.

_“Lila, keep an eye on my pet for me while I make the den more presentable.”_

There was a groan from inside the temple and the harpy hopped out, feathers fluffed in irritation. She spread her wings and flapped over so that she was standing nearby, not close enough for Marrow to touch her. She didn’t look at them, tucking her wings close to her sides and muttering something in a language Marrow couldn’t understand. They never realised before that the language of spirits probably had swear words.

The dragon lumbered away, and Marrow dared to sit up as his eyes left them. He really was a dragon! He had two wings, four legs, a massive tail about as long as the rest of his body; he was black all over except for his golden claws, horns, spinal ridges, and the spade-like tip of his tail which waved from side to side. Marrow held their knees close to their chest and gripped them, white-knuckled. If that thing wanted to kill them, there was nothing a bonded mage could do to stop him, let alone someone like Marrow. The feeling of helplessness sank deep into their bones and settled there.

The dragon reared up on his hind legs and took a breath. He let it out slowly, spreading his wings wide. Marrow watched, unable to look away, as the stones of the temple rumbled and scraped against one another. Fallen chunks floated into the air and settled into their original places like jigsaw pieces. Rust fell and was carried off by the wind. Cracks in the stone healed like flesh, and the glass of the windows grew from a few scant shards into full panes. When the dragon finally lowered back to all fours and folded his wings against his sides, the temple looked new.

When the dragon looked at Marrow, their jaw slammed shut with a click of teeth. The dragon huffed a quiet laugh. Emboldened by his amusement, Marrow dared to speak.

“H-how did you d-do that?” they asked.

 _“I wouldn’t necessarily say that_ I _did it,”_ the dragon said as he circled Marrow, lying down in the grass behind them so that his neck was coiled around them, a talon coming up to stroke idly at Marrow’s leg. He ignored the whimper this brought out in them. _“Earth-based magic is a challenge for a creature of the air, and I’d rather not reduce our den to rubble. I simply commanded a few minor stone spirits to undo the damage.”_

“Wow…” Marrow stared at the newly repaired temple, marble and granite gleaming, the golden bell in its tower shining, the orange glow of sunset sparkling in the clear glass windows. They doubted they’d ever see magic like that again.

“You repaired the den,” Lila said with disdain, “for a human.”

 _“It benefits us as well,”_ the dragon said, poking curiously at Marrow’s wellington boots. _“Speaking of which, please go inside and clean.”_

Lila’s feathers bristled and she stomped over to the dragon’s face. Marrow felt themselves pale in fear for the harpy, not much taller than they were, inches from the dragon’s enormous mouth.

“I am _not_ cleaning for a _human being!”_ she screeched, staring up into the dragon’s left eye. There was a beat of silence.

“Tha-that’s okay!” Marrow said, getting to their feet. “I-I-I can clean! N-no need to get angry!” They gulped as the dragon’s claws wrapped around them again, forcing them to back away into the warm scales of his neck.

_“No, little Marrow hasn’t learned not to run off yet. You will clean, Lila.”_

Lila opened her mouth and pointed the claw at the elbow of her wing, ready to snap. Marrow spoke before she could.

“W-w-what if she watched me? S-she could show me where the cleaning supplies are and everything, and s-she wouldn’t have to get her hands—her, uh, her talons dirty!” The dragon could feel Marrow trembling against his neck. He narrowed his eye down at them and saw them scrunch their face up in fear. Well, maybe he had been a _little_ heavy handed… Some time away from him to come to terms with the new arrangement would do the little one some good.

 _“Fine,”_ he said, opening his hand and letting them one scurry away from him. _“Wake me when you’re done.”_ He shifted until he was coiled in a circle with his chin resting on his tail, closing his eyes. Marrow couldn’t shake the thought that he was sulking.

“Whatever. Come on human.” Lila started heading back to the temple. Marrow scrambled after her, boots slipping on the muddy ground. Once they reached the gigantic entryway, now free of the rotten wood doors, Marrow turned back and stared in disbelief at the dark figure curled into a ball. From this distance, he almost looked like an oversized cat. That thought did little to calm their nerves. Cats tended to be cruel to small things.

“I am… grateful,” they heard Lila say.

“Wha-?” Marrow responded dumbly.

Lila growled, hugging herself with her wings. Marrow imagined if she were human, she’d be folding her arms. “You offered to clean, even though you were frightened. I am grateful.”

“I was scared he’d eat you if you yelled at him,” Marrow admitted, shuffling their feet awkwardly.

“He might have done so once upon a time,” Lila said, gesturing for Marrow to follow her inside.

“I…” Marrow stepped in after her, taking off their soaked and muddy raincoat and finding a broken sconce to hang it from. “I guess you must really hate humans, huh?” Lila only responded with a growl. “I’m sorry.”

“Why?” Lila scoffed.

“I didn’t mean to invade your space like this. Whatever reasons you have to dislike humans so much, I’m sure that having me around doesn’t make it any easier to deal with. So, I’m sorry.”

Lila stared and raised a brow. “You just got claimed as the plaything of an immortal dragon and you’re apologising.”

“Y-yeah, when you put it like that, it’s pretty silly.” Marrow laughed nervously, rubbing the back of their neck. “Still, I… I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable in your own home.”

Lila blinked a few times. She took a breath and let it go as a long sigh. “I’ll show you where the cleaning cupboard is.”

Marrow was good at cleaning. It helped that they had opposable thumbs. Marrow was also chatty. Very, very chatty. Lila let them talk, recognising it as a nervous tick, and a way to keep their mind occupied on something other than their current predicament. As they cleared the last of the rubble out and started sweeping the floors, they told Lila about their uncle’s shop. As they raised their hand to cast a light spell so they could continue to work with their pitiful eyesight, they told Lila about their time at something called the Academy. Lila wasn’t paying attention to most of it, until Marrow mentioned familiars.

“I passed all my exams, I learned all my runes, I was probably the most studious one there. But I couldn’t summon.” They were running the broom over the stones, kicking up dust and debris. Their clothes were filthy with it. “I tried everything. I bought concentration potions, I studied every glyph in the summoning circle, I even tried modifying it! We’re not even supposed to do that until third year! The professor told me that I wasn’t putting enough force into the spell, and so I tried to push everything I had into it, almost knocked myself out. That’s not what he meant though. Apparently when summoning you’re supposed to essentially force a spirit into the spell by sending out a sort of projection of domination and control. I could never get the hang of that. So, I dropped out and, well, my parents sort of kicked me out after that so I ended up sticking with my uncle. I’m allowed to study magic as his apprentice but unless I manage to summon a familiar, I’ll probably get demoted to a regular shop assistant.” They looked up and winced. “Are you okay?”

Lila’s face was pale. She looked away, scowling at the ground. “It does not concern you, human.”

Marrow walked over to her, keeping their distance enough to hopefully ensure she was comfortable. They sat down. “It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me why you’re upset,” they said carefully, “but I really don’t want to upset you again, so if you can tell me what I did wrong—”

“Shut up,” Lila snapped. “Just shut up.” There was a moment of quiet. Marrow, dejected, got to their feet, and went back to sweeping. Lila hugged her wings to herself. She didn’t enjoy the human’s silence as much as she thought she would.

By the time Marrow was finished with sweeping, the moon was high in the sky. Their light spell, a little ball of pastel yellow hovering just over their head, started flickering as they grew exhausted. Lila snatched the broom from them and left them to collapse against a wall. A twinge of guilt nagged at her. The human’s face was pale, almost grey, they were covered in dried mud and dust, their eyes were red from crying she’d failed to hear over the whirlwind of her own thoughts, and they slumped with so much exhaustion that she doubted she’d find them awake when she returned with their mutual master. She put the cleaning supplies away and went to fetch him.

When the dragon entered the temple, Marrow curled up into a shaking ball, hugging their knees. The dragon rumbled thoughtfully. They’d done a decent job cleaning the place up. It would need a good mopping, but they’d worked more than hard enough for one day. He wrapped his claws around the shivering figure and flopped down against the cool stone, placing his pet against his neck, and holding them there. He curled into a ball around Marrow, keeping them safely tucked away under an outstretched wing. He said nothing, just rubbed the pad of his thumb against Marrow’s shivering back until he fell back to sleep.

Marrow was exhausted. They’d hiked through the forest during a storm, they’d almost been eaten, and then they’d spent all evening and probably a significant portion of the night cleaning their new prison. Every fibre of their being was screaming at them to sleep. But they couldn’t. After about an hour, though it was hard to tell the time with a giant wing blocking out any light above them, they shifted and tested to see if the dragon would wake up if they moved. Escape was probably impossible from this position: the dragon’s body was literally caging them. But it seemed they could move around freely without worrying about getting slashed open for daring to intrude on the dragon’s slumber. Nervously, they reached up under their clothes and undid their binder, taking a deep enough breath that their lungs ached. Being kidnapped by a dragon was no excuse to start being cavalier about binder safety. With no better ideas, they folded it up and stuffed it down a trouser leg for safekeeping.

 _Okay, Talonfeather. Remember what Doctor Matthews taught you. In for four, out for eight. Slow your heartrate. There’s a limit to how much the human body can panic before it has to come back down again, and I’d say you’ve more than hit that ceiling today. Focus on the facts: you’re sitting on a dragon. Okay, not the best fact to start with, I can definitely feel the panic coming back. Let’s make a list of things we know, things we don’t know, and things we can do._ Marrow took a few more moments to calm down, trying to resist the urge to bite their hand or dig their nails into the old scabs on their palm.

_Things that I know…_

_Number one, he called himself the Great Thunder Dragon. That probably makes him an elemental dragon, second only to the dragons of pure magic in terms of raw magical strength, one of the most powerful creatures on the planet. Okay, that fact doesn’t help much._

_Number two, he promised I wouldn’t be harmed if I did what he told me to do. He hasn’t hurt me yet, even though he definitely could, and he’s definitely threatened to, but he hasn’t hurt me._

_Number three, he thinks human beings can be pets, and he wants me to be one. A companion, did he say? He seems to think I should be happy about it, or at least aware of it, like it’s some sort of tradition. Really wish I’d studied more dragon lore._

_Number four, his… maid? Yeah let’s go with maid. She really hates humans. I think someone must have hurt her, and I don’t think she’s going to be much help if I need a hand escaping._

_Number five, I know the way home. If I get away, I don’t have to worry about getting lost._

_Things I don’t know…_

_Number one, what does the dragon want me to do, exactly? He said companionship, and wow my mind is going to the worst possible place right now, and I’m really hoping that’s not what it is._

_Number two, where’s his hoard? Don’t dragons usually have hoards? And, why was he just silently living in the woods, in a ruin, with just one servant? Is he sick? No, dragons don’t get sick, right?_

_Number three, what happens when he gets bored of me?_ Marrow’s mind supplied them, helpfully, with plentiful images of their own grisly demise until their stomach felt like it sank to their knees. They gulped, hugging their chest, desperate for the comforting pressure.

 _I have to make sure he doesn’t get bored. It’s how I’ll survive. Maybe I can even gain his trust, make him think I won’t run, then surprise him by running away when he least expects it! Only problem is, I don’t know what he wants from me…_ A yawn broke through their thoughts. Despite the terror of being literally surrounded on all sides by the scales and the soft rumbling of such a colossal, powerful creature, it was admittedly warm and surprisingly comfortable. The scales radiated a pleasant heat and, although they were hard, the flesh beneath was soft enough that they gave way somewhat to the pressure of Marrow’s shifting body. Exhaustion dragged them down until they were curled in the foetal position just under the dragon’s jaw, cradled by an enormous talon. Their mind was too exhausted to protest as they cuddled up to their kidnapper and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wanted to get this one out yesterday but i felt like i had to take a step back and sleep before i published it, and i'm glad i did because i think it's a lot better now. i hope the mixed perspectives work well and aren't too confusing. i'm still unsure about marrow's long internal monologue. what do you think? anyway, thanks so much for reading!! and thanks again, Sekiraku, for reading it over and giving their stamp of approval!


	4. Dragons like Kisses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *****WARNING: this chapter has mentions of gender dysphoria!*****  
> it doesn't go into too much detail, but if thinking about dysphoria would make you sad today please go watch cat videos and get yourself a cookie and a cup of tea instead. take care of yourself!

Marrow was woken by a familiar wet pressure across the back of their hand, groaning as they pulled away.

“Pip, I told you not to—” their words turned into a yell as their eyes opened to the sight of a maw the size of a train car filled with teeth as big as swords, a blue forked tongue retracting into the cavernous void. They scrambled backwards and slipped, falling into the dragon’s open palm. Gold claws caged them in, and they found themselves pressing hard against the massive paw to avoid them. The dragon laughed at his pet’s antics, letting out a snort of ozone-smelling smoke which wafted over their startled features.

 _“Rise and shine,”_ he cooed. Marrow sat up slowly, trying to steady themselves against the dragon’s movement as he got to his feet. _“You slept late. It’s already noon.”_

“Yeah,” Marrow muttered, pulling their glasses out of the case in their pocket to stare at the blue sky that stretched high above. “Kind of had a late night…”

The dragon huffed in amusement. _“Lila has volunteered to finish what you started. The temple will be clean by tonight. You need a bath.”_

“You have a bath?” Marrow asked sceptically.

_“We have a river.”_

“Oh.” That was going to suck. Not only were the rivers freezing cold at this time of year, but they were hardly the cleanest places, and Marrow didn’t have any soap with them. They always had a toothbrush and paste in case of emergencies, but the dragon had already left the temple well behind by the time Marrow remembered it. The dragon was quiet on the walk to the river, and Marrow had time to ponder their next move. It still seemed like a good idea, if for no other reason than self-preservation, to get on this monster’s good side. Fighting back wasn’t even an option that crossed their mind; escape was plausible, but it would be difficult, especially since the dragon seemed to not only want Marrow to sleep curled up against him but insisted on carrying them everywhere. He was like a kid who just got his first hamster. They concluded they’d have to focus on making the situation as liveable as possible while building up enough affection and trust that they could make a break for it as soon as they saw an opening.

 _“Here we are, little one.”_ He lowered Marrow to the ground and waited for the witch to make their own way out of his palm. They were placed next to a waterfall; one they didn’t recognise. It was only about ten feet tall, gushing from a water-worn jut of stone into a creek that must join with the main river somewhere down the hills. It was at this point that Marrow remembered something else that would suck about this situation.

“I… I can’t take my clothes off.”

 _“Aw, do you need help, little pet?”_ Claws were already reaching, and Marrow let out a strangled squeak, backing away so quickly they felt their binder shift from where they’d stuffed it against their thigh, down to their calf, and settle in their boots. Oh, right. There was that too.

“No! No, no, no, no, no, thank you!” Marrow shuddered. “I don’t like being naked at the best of times, I especially don’t like being naked in front of people, and I especially-especially don’t like being naked in front of people I’ve only just met!” Marrow was shaking. They couldn’t tell if they were more afraid of those claws ripping their flesh or ripping their clothes off, and they stared at them with a half-glare, lips pinched together. 

The dragon considered them a moment. It probably wasn’t best to reward bad behaviour like raising their voice at their master, but it was only day two. He distantly remembered wearing clothes a long time ago when he walked among humans, and he couldn’t imagine wanting to wear them all day if they were wet. So, his little pet had to be extremely averse to the idea of nakedness. Also, he hadn’t got around to getting the little one a change of clothes so washing them was probably a good idea.

 _“Fine,”_ he grumbled finally, settling down on the bank of the river. _“You may wash in your coverings, but don’t blame me if you get sick.”_

Marrow breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you,” they said. The cold shower with no soap was still going to be unpleasant but at least now they didn’t have to worry about those terrifying yellow eyes watching them while they were nude. They removed their wellingtons, leaving their binder poking out of one of them. The dragon eyed it, which made them blush and stuff the undergarment further in. They put their glasses back in its case and set that down on the bank as well. They then stepped into the creek and shuddered at the freezing water. Cold, wet socks clung to their toes and made them want to crawl onto the riverbed and curl into a ball. They forced themselves to move, arms stiff at their sides, until they were under the spray. The cold was intense and made them give a strangled cry. They brought their hands up to their hair and ran their fingers through it, disentangling some of the inevitable knots. With nothing else they could do, they stepped out from under the spray and scrambled until they were back on the bank, horrified to see the dragon nosing at their boots and poking the soft fabric of their binder with a claw.

 _“You look miserable,”_ he commented before they could say anything.

“I-it’s… f-f-freezing,” Marrow stuttered, teeth chattering, “it’s f-f-filthy. A-animals p-probably poop in that ri-river. I ha-a-ave no s-s-soap, sh-sh-shampoo, or ch-ch-change of c-clothes.” They were hugging their sodden jumper to their chest, staring at their binder. “A-a-a-and no pr-r-rivacy.”

The dragon lifted Marrow’s binder between two claws, causing them to cry out and reach for it in desperation, even though it was already twenty feet in the air.

 _“I forget you little morsels can’t change shape on their own,”_ he said. _“Is that what this is for?”_

“Yu-yu-yes,” Marrow said, taking a furious step forward. “P-please gi-give it ba-ack!” 

The dragon glanced down, slit pupil narrowing at the sight of Marrow’s glare, which quickly faded and became a fearful grimace. Their eyes filled with tears. 

“P-please…” then, hurriedly, “pl-please, m-master.” 

The dragon considered. His human looked positively _miserable_ , drenched in freezing water, eyes red and puffy, arms pressing hard against their chest. He didn’t understand why but this garment was important to them, important enough to shout and cry over, even more so than when they came face-to-face with a dragon for the first time. He realised with a flinch that he’d been staring, leaving the little one in suspense, and hurriedly dropped the tiny scrap of cloth on top of them. Marrow jumped to catch it and hugged it close to their chest, panting with such relief that guilt nagged at the dragon’s core, an uncomfortable demanding presence.

_“I… did not mean to withhold anything precious. Is all your clothing so important?”_

Marrow surprised him by laughing nervously. “No,” they said, “not even sl-slightly.”

 _“Yet you are afraid to remove it.”_ He lowered his jaw to the bank of the river a few feet from where Marrow was trembling, breathing warm smoke that seemed to ease their shaking somewhat.

“You s-said it yourself. Humans can’t c-change shape.” Marrow sighed. “I don’t like the shape I got stuck with, so I do what I can to h-hide it.”

The dragon was about to argue that he was sure their shape was perfect, but he held his tongue. He had taken many forms in his long, long lifetime, and some had felt very wrong, even if they had all been beautiful. It had taken him a long time to settle on the form he took now and being trapped in the wrong body for eternity sounded like a nightmare. There was that guilt again, hammering away at his insides. He grumbled to himself. He hated apologising, but it seemed the situation demanded it.

“Thank you,” Marrow said before he could speak, “for understanding, and giving it back when I asked.” They offered a cautious, lopsided smile.

The dragon picked his head up a little. The human was smiling at him! Oh, they were just so cute with their cheeks all rounded and dimpled!

 _“You’re welcome, little pet,”_ he said, and a grin spread across his face. He was too excited to care that Marrow’s smile dropped as they came face-to-face with his teeth again. _“Kiss me.”_

Marrow opened their mouth then shut it. They eyed the dragon nervously. “Wh-where?”

The dragon laughed. They really were quite clever! Had he been a trickster spirit or fae, Marrow would have just saved themselves from having to do something rather embarrassing. Luckily for them, the dragon thought far too highly of himself to feel the need to force that sort of thing. He simply tapped the tip of a claw against his scaly cheek, watching relief bring colour back to Marrow’s face.

Part of Marrow wanted to run. The dragon’s request confused and frightened them and brought up more questions than they wanted the answers to in regard to his intentions. It was just a stupid kiss on the cheek. They just hoped it wasn’t the prelude to anything less chaste. They clenched their jaw and reminded themselves of their strategy: appease, survive, escape.

 _It would probably be less terrifying if he just scooped me up like he normally does instead of making me walk up to him to do it myself_ , they thought bitterly. They looked down at the dirt and focused on walking in the mud without standing on any sharp rocks, ignoring the crimson blush that rose to their cheeks.

The witch placed a hand against his scales, closed their eyes, and leaned forward until they felt the tip of their nose touch the creature. Their lips came forward and, briefly, with a soft sound, kissed the dragon. When Marrow looked up, the slit pupil was blown wide until it was almost spherical, and the dragon’s contented rumbling had turned into a low purr. They heard his tail whipping against the ground in excitement a significant distance away. Before they could let loose the cry of fear that had been building in their chest, the dragon’s paw came up behind them and pressed their whole body against his cheek, which moved up and down with surprising gentleness before pulling away.

 _“Good pet,”_ the dragon said as he lifted them up and cradled them in his palm, a thumb brushing their stomach. They let out a startled cry as their boots and glasses case were dropped into their lap. With an amused chuckle, the dragon turned back the way he came.

_“We can work on your requests later.”_

“My… requests?” Marrow asked, adding a hasty “Master?”

_“Warmer, cleaner water, soaps, clothes, and privacy, I believe. Am I missing anything?”_

_Yeah, how about letting me go home?_ “No, master.”

_“Good. You may always ask me for necessities, little Marrow. It’s my job as your owner to look after you.”_

*

Lila insisted, at least to herself, that cleaning the temple was simply out of practicality. The human seemed deft enough with a broom, but she was sure they would do something vitally wrong and she’d have to clean up the mess anyway. Then, when that argument failed to convince, she decided it must be because she needed something to do while she waited for her master to return. Finally, she grumpily accepted that she felt bad for the way she’d spoken to them last night. The little one – and despite not being much taller she couldn’t help but think of them as such – had been ripped from their home and made into a living doll for the amusement of a creature they couldn’t hope to escape alive, and she had treated them like a pest she’d prefer to see squashed. They had been nothing but polite, especially given the circumstances, and the longer she dwelled on the way she had acted the angrier she became, until she was scrubbing the floors with such fury and polishing the sconces so vigorously that she could see her own snarl reflected back at her. The sight of it twisted in her guts until she sighed and let her forehead fall against the wall. She’d have to say something, do something, to make up for it or she’d end up pecking at her stomach to get it to stop churning.

 _“Wonderful job, Lila!”_ the voice she had grown familiar with chimed in her head. The temple did indeed look much improved. The colour of the tiled floor, albeit still faded, was visible again. The brass sconces which lined the walls were gleaming. The pillars were white again, and the marble had been treated. The statue against the back wall opposite the entryway was polished as well – a gleaming golden dragon with wings spread wide.

Lila bowed. “Thank you, master.” Marrow was placed down on the floor. “Your pet looks like a drowned rat, master.”

 _“Hm, yes, I made a small miscalculation. Nothing I can’t fix. I’ll go out and find a few bits and pieces. Watch them for me, will you?”_ He turned back to the entrance and spread his wings.

“You’re going hoarding?” Lila asked, unable to keep the hopeful tremor out of her voice.

 _“Well…”_ the dragon looked down sheepishly, _“I suppose I am.”_

Lila smiled and bowed her head respectfully. “Fare well on your travels, great sky lord.” The dragon’s chin turned up proudly and a gust of wind almost blew the glasses off Marrow’s face as his wings snapped down, lifting the gigantic beast into the sky. There was a sound like the clap of thunder, shaking the stone, and then he was gone. 

Marrow started to get to their feet. Their boots squelched and they smelled of the river. Lila’s good mood was instantly ruined by the sight of muddy footprints on her pristine floors.

“Is… is he really gone?” they asked.

“Yep,” she said, “and don’t get any bright ideas. I might not be a dragon but if you try to escape my talons can tear your skin like paper.”

“N-noted…” Marrow stared at the entryway, knees knocking together. Lila groaned and marched up to them, making them flinch.

“Yesterday I was rude,” she began.

“Huh? What do you—”

“Shut up, I’m talking.”

“Sorry.”

“You were taken, and you were scared, and you may be human but you’re not a piece of shit, so I shouldn’t have treated you like one.” Lila sighed, looking away so she wouldn’t have to read the human’s pitying expression. “I… know what it’s like to be taken. I of all people should have at least tried to make it easier on you.”

“The…” Marrow hesitated, not sure if they were allowed to speak. When Lila remained silent, they went on. “The dragon took you too?”

“Him?” Lila laughed. “You think I’d stick around with that giant idiot if he’d simply taken me? No.” She tapped a talon against the stone, laughter dying in her throat. “I owe him a life-debt. He saved me…” She closed her eyes and opened them slowly, looking down at Marrow’s knitted brows. “He broke the bonds that tethered me. I… was a familiar.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> really big thanks to madrastic especially for looking over an earlier version of this chapter which would have had a very different vibe - i was going for cute, and the version i had written was not cute. their sensitivity reading is the only reason this chapter is bearable. i owe you my life mads!! also thanks to Sekiraku and Kadorath for beta-reading once the chapter was fully drafted and thanks everyone who left kudos and lovely comments! you're all so nice!!!


	5. Humans can be Cruel

Lila was able to create a small campfire for Marrow to hunch over for warmth. They drank their tea, offering a cup to Lila, and ate the somewhat squashed sandwiches they’d packed yesterday. The river water dried and made their clothes itch, but they didn’t dare to remove anything. Not only were they freezing cold, they were determined neither of the strange creatures would see more of their bare skin than was absolutely necessary. They huddled into their raincoat, using it as a rather ineffective blanket, staring at the flames. Once the sun started to dip behind the treeline, Lila finally spoke again.

“It was about thirty years ago,” Lila said. Marrow opened their mouth then shut it. They didn’t want to interrupt. Judging by how her feathers puffed out with every inhale, this wasn’t easy for her. So, they shut up and just acknowledged her with their eyes. Lila took a breath and let it go as a long sigh. “You mentioned before, about the spell to summon a familiar. It requires a projection of strength, control, domination. That much is true. But a better way of putting it would be to say that it simply requires… cruelty.

“A spirit doesn’t get a choice. There is this… vortex of colour and light, and then your body is pulled in. If you’re strong enough, you can fight it. I wasn’t.

“I opened my eyes, and I was kneeling on the floor of some dingy basement lit by candlelight, a circle of chalk with symbols in it beneath me, a man standing over me with a smug look on his face. His eyes were just… empty. He was cruel enough for the incantation but there was no mirth in his eyes, no victory. He was simply a hollow man. He was hollow when he named me. He was hollow when the spell wound its way around my neck. He was hollow when he slit his wrist and forced me to drink his blood to complete the ritual. And he was hollow when he beat the last of the fight out of me.

“He had me stay in the shape of a dog just to deny me the pleasure of flight. He watched me during the day, caged me at night, kept me from speaking. It took a decade but finally he believed my heart to be too broken, my need for freedom crushed by endless suffering. When at last the hollow man left me alone in his awful house, I escaped. I ran, clawing desperately at the spectral collar that marked my shame. I ran… because I’d forgotten how to fly.” At that point, her voice broke, and she took a moment to steady her breathing. “That’s when I found him.”

“The…” Marrow said quietly, hesitantly, unsure if they should speak, “the Thunder Dragon?”

“Even elemental dragons are masters of magic, especially when compared to humans. I bowed to him, begged him, take this _thing_ off my _neck!_ He asked for nothing in return, said nothing at all. He just hooked his claw under the collar, and it shattered. I felt the connection to the hollow man break, and just like that it was over. I’ve been here ever since.”

With a deep breath, Lila found the courage to look at the human. She expected confusion, offense, disbelief. Instead Marrow was weeping silently, eyes red, cheeks damp, sniffing to stop their nose from running. The human and the harpy stared at each other for a moment of silence broken only by Marrow’s quiet sobbing and the tapping of Lila’s anxious claw against the stone.

“I…” Marrow began, wiping their face on their scratchy sleeve. “I had no idea it was… it could be like that,” they said breathlessly. “I… I’m so sorry! I’m so, so sorry, Lila, I won’t ever talk about anything like that with you again, I promise. That… that’s just awful, and I really don’t want to upset you by reminding you of it! I…”

Lila held up a wing, flicking the claws on the alula in a gesture that was similar enough to a hand wave that Marrow recognised it and shut their mouth. “You weren’t to know. You’re… a good sort, even if you’re human, I suppose. I don’t hold it against you.”

Marrow took a deep breath, preparing themselves for what they were about to ask. “Lila, if… if I wanted to escape, like you did… would you let me?”

“No,” she said instantly. Marrow’s eyes widened in shock, so she elaborated. “Our master is an idiot, and he’s useless, and he doesn’t respect his station. But he’s also kind. He isn’t going to hurt you like I was hurt. For some reason having you around makes him happier, and I am honour-bound as his servant – his _friend_ – to keep him happy. So, if you try to escape, I will stop you. If you snap and start hurting him, I will fucking end you. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yuh-yes, um… okay, I guess.” Marrow took another sip of tea and went back to staring at the flames. Well that backfired horribly. At least they understood Lila and, for lack of a name to call him, _master_ , a little better now.

Sort of. Their dynamic didn’t make much sense. Sometimes Lila was talking about the dragon as if he was someone important whose very existence should inspire awe, and sometimes she was calling him names and berating him like a child. She considered him a friend, but was the feeling mutual? Did the dragon really think of her as anything more than a plaything for his amusement? Either way, Lila was incredibly loyal, and Marrow was now certain that, whatever they did to get out, they were going to have to do it alone.

When the dragon returned, he expected to find his little pet asleep, but Marrow was wide awake. They were huddled by a dwindling fire, the embers reflecting off their glasses as they stared into it, body shaking. They were too stiff with cold to leap to their feet and run at the sight of the dragon’s huge body blocking the moonlight, only managing a harsh flinch and even more pronounced shivering. They stared up at the dragon, not meeting his eyes. They were fixated on his mouth, his teeth, which were revealed as his scaly lips peeled back in a smile. Lila was therefore the one to notice the bundle the dragon held to his chest.

“What did you gather, master?”

The dragon’s smile widened as he shuffled his way into the temple, hobbling a little on only three legs. There was a clatter that made Marrow scream and cover their head with fright. After a moment of silence, the human peeled their eyes open.

Stretched out on a rug the size of a building were several human amenities: a clawfoot tub with a shower curtain, a mahogany wardrobe and matching chest of drawers, a crimson chaise lounge with a matching pouffe and dozens of pillows and blankets. Marrow stared at the pile of random furniture as the dragon picked them up one by one, setting them upright. It all went in the far corner by the gold dragon statue, in a cluster that almost looked cosy. Then he lifted the largest blanket, and it wasn’t a blanket. It was a canopy. A metal ring with chains attached to a hook lifted it up and he draped the dangling cloth around the furniture, effectively creating a small room. He turned to Marrow expectantly, tail whacking the ground in anticipation.

Marrow stared at the space the dragon had created, having not moved from their place on the ground by the embers. They were still shaking but mostly from the cold.

 _“Well?”_ the dragon demanded in their head, causing them to flinch. _“What do you think?”_

“It…” Marrow blinked. “You… gathered this for me?”

The dragon huffed a dark cloud of ozone-smelling smoke. _“I_ told _you I was going to take care of you! Look.”_ He parted the canopy curtain with a claw. _“Privacy.”_ He tapped the wardrobe with a claw. _“Clothes.”_ He tipped the clawfoot tub and an avalanche of toiletries fell out. _“Soaps.”_ He gestured at the sofa. _“I even got you somewhere pretty to lounge around. I’m also going to dig a fire pit and grab a water tower for you. You’re awfully ungrateful.”_

“N-no, wait!” Marrow got to their feet somewhat shakily. “I’m not ungrateful! I… I’m just… confused! And surprised! T-that’s all, master!” The dragon raised a brow at them sceptically. “I just… I figured you wouldn’t really be bothered about making me comfortable, s-since I can’t… leave anyway…” Their head bowed and they knitted their fingers together, knuckles white. They heard the dragon sigh and flinched as the powerful claws wrapped around their trembling body, pulling them off their feet into the air.

 _“Oh, Marrow, you really have no idea just how precious you are.”_ The dragon brought the unbonded witch up to his cheek and rubbed against them, letting out a low rumbling purr. Despite the terror of being so close to the monster’s teeth, Marrow was deeply grateful for the warmth of the dragon’s immense body heat. The dragon pulled away and seemed to notice Marrow’s steady hands with a sense of triumph in his yellow eyes, placing them back down on the ground, this time at the entrance of the cloth-walled room. _“You may explore.”_

“T-thank you…” Marrow said quietly and stepped inside, letting a light spell float from the palm of their hand into the air. It was a strange mixture of cosy and fancy. The furniture was stylish, not something they would ever dream of owning. When they opened the wardrobe, the clothes inside were fine cotton and silks, collared shirts, dark trousers, vests, and suit jackets. There was a drawer in the wardrobe dedicated to ties and cufflinks. The chest of drawers thankfully contained some jumpers, all solid dark colours, underwear, and socks. There was a comb in one of the drawers, tucked away, but the teeth were too fine for Marrow’s mop of curls. They briefly considered breaking some of them off, but it wasn’t their property, no matter what the dragon said. The clawfoot tub still had copper pipes attached to it, torn like tissue paper where the dragon had ripped it from the wall. Even so, it was regal, and the toiletries scattered on the floor next to it were promisingly fragrant.

The thing that interested them most, however, was the pile of blankets and pillows. They picked them up one by one and created a nest on top of the chaise lounge, wrapping themselves in one of the fluffier, more colourful blankets for warmth. The dragon watched all of this through the gap in the canopy with rapt attention.

“Th…” Marrow cleared their throat, “thank you.”

The dragon’s purrs shook the ground. _“You are welcome, little pet.”_

“Can… can I please sleep here tonight?” Marrow asked hopefully.

 _“No,”_ the dragon said. _“You are still too skittish. You might run. You’ll be far safer and warmer in my claws.”_

Marrow sighed sadly, nodding as they walked towards him. They didn’t want the dragon reaching his terrifying talons into this small sanctuary. They’d like to maintain the illusion of safety in their little cloth bubble.

The dragon was delighted at this display of obedience and scooped them up as soon as they were out of the chamber. _“You must be exhausted. It’s late.”_ He only got a small humming noise in response and laughed, rubbing his thumb against the small of Marrow’s back before settling down as he had the night before, keeping Marrow pinned against his neck and using his massive wing to shield them.

“Master?” Lila fluttered up to a rafter hanging above him. He craned his neck to look her in the eye, giving a small nod for her to continue. “I’m glad you’re hoarding again. I’m relieved, actually.”

The dragon sighed and looked under his wing at the small human already asleep against his neck. _“There may be new things to do after all,”_ he projected into Lila’s mind, leaving the little one to their dreams.

“Do you think it’ll be enough?”

The dragon snorted a cloud of smoke. _“To combat the withering, you mean? For a little while, maybe. I hate to give you false hope, Lila.”_

“I just wish I’d been enough.”

The dragon’s eyes widened at that and he looked up at her, brows knitting together in pity and guilt. _“Lila…”_

“I know having a loyal servant isn’t exactly a new experience for you,” Lila said, curling her wings around herself for comfort. “I can’t help but feel I’m just not good enough.”

_“Lila, the withering is no one’s fault but mine. You have been kind to me. That’s all I can ask in my final years.”_

“Yeah, well, I just wish they weren’t so final,” Lila said. There was a pause. “Good night, master.”

 _“Good night, my dear.”_ He buried his head under his wing, close to Marrow, so that he could hear their steady breathing and smell the river water and his own scent lingering comfortingly on their hair and clothes. He didn’t know how long Marrow could keep him from falling back into the despair and the slow death of the withering, but he loved them for it. 

He loved them so much he’d never let them go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm so sorry this took so long guys! i've been split between a few different projects at the moment and i've started beta reading for a really talented fic author whose work i'm really excited about! i've written something for that author but i don't think it's right to put it on ao3 until she's had a chance to finish the part of her fic it's relevant to, but stay tuned for that i guess? is that a thing people say? super big thanks to anyone who's taken the time to comment!!! it just fills my day with sunshine and gives me so much more motivation to keep going with this fic. please have a lovely day and drink lots of water and don't forget to take your medicine if you have any.


	6. Dragons can Die

True to his word, the dragon dug a firepit outside the temple and stole a water tower, yanking the gigantic barrel right off its legs, leaving jagged metal spikes which dug into the dirt. Marrow climbed the ladder with a bucket and collected water from the huge pool, heated it over the fire, and took it to the clawfoot tub for their bath. It was a long process, but it gave them time to think, to plan escapes. So far, they hadn’t figured much out.

As soon as they emerged freshly clothed from the canvas tent, the wind was knocked out of them by a gigantic, scaled paw and they were dragged into the air. The grip was tight, fingers shifting against their torso and a thumb pressing their head into the pointer finger, rubbing circles into their cheek.

 _“You took so_ long _,”_ the dragon’s voice invaded their head. _“I missed you!”_

“I-I was f-filthy!” Marrow complained, their voice distorted by having their cheeks squashed towards their nose. The dragon seemed to find it endearing, his ears pricking up, his grip tightening a little more. Marrow managed to free a hand, slipping it between his fingers and struggling to push them apart. “You’re… s-squashing me!”

 _“Oh!”_ the dragon’s grip loosened, the fingers still wrapped around Marrow’s body, keeping them immobile. The thumb at their cheek moved to their hair and the dragon’s deep throaty purr started up again. _“You’re soft again!”_

“T-thanks? I mean, I just washed it properly…”

 _“So soft.”_ The dragon leaned his snout down and sniffed, _“so pretty.”_

Marrow flinched and pressed themselves into the dragon’s fingers when his mouth opened, but the dragon only flicked the tip of his long blue tongue against their cheek.

_“We’re going to the lake today.”_

“W-why?” Marrow squeaked.

_“I’m not going to make you swim in it if that’s what you’re afraid of. No, it’s just a lovely spot for a chat.”_

“W-wh…” Marrow was cut off by the dragon’s sudden movement, pulling them to his chest and rubbing his thumb against their hair. The dragon walked out of the temple, holding them so close that Marrow could hear the beat of blood around his body, swamped by the warmth radiating from his scales. Once they were outside the temple, the dragon’s wings snapped open and before Marrow could protest, a huge force pressed them against the dragon’s chest as he took to the skies.

Marrow was, unfortunately, terrified of heights. 

They screwed their eyes shut and curled up into a tight ball, wishing they hadn’t told the dragon to loosen his grip. They felt so fragile and unsteady, and the rush of wind in their ears was deafening. Was this why dragons spoke directly through thoughts? They covered their face with their hands, pushing their glasses up to their forehead. By the time the dragon landed, Marrow was pale with terror and their hair had been swept back from their forehead by the wind into a spiky mess. The dragon chuckled and groomed it back down with the tip of his tongue, causing Marrow to shiver.

“W-why do you… lick me?”

_“Hm. I’ve never thought about it. It just feels good, and it gets my scent on you. Don’t you like it?”_

“I…” Marrow yelped as they were placed down on a rock. As the giant black paws drew away, they saw the lake glittering in the sunlight. It was beautiful, spanning miles, rolling hills and forest visible on the other side. There were dozens of ruins, those half-destroyed buildings in the old architectural style of the natives from before the Albion invasion. They gasped. 

“This isn’t on any maps.”

_“Of course not. It’s buzzing with magic. Can’t you feel it? The neighbours don’t appreciate groups of humans trampling on their territory.”_

“It’s beautiful…” Marrow pulled their hands away from their chest, placing one on the ground, feeling the adrenaline and terror drain from their limbs.

 _“It’s a lovely spot.”_ Behind them, the dragon settled himself down, flopping onto his side and wrapping his tail around the rock he’d placed Marrow on, the spade-like tip just brushing against Marrow’s thigh. The dragon curled his long neck around the boulder so that his snout rested in front of his little pet, so he could look them in the eye and see how they stared at the lakeside with awe.

“I never knew there were so many ruins out here…”

 _“Hm, yes,”_ the dragon shifted uneasily. _“It’s a good place for a conversation. So, I’m sure you have questions?”_

“I… I’m allowed to ask them?” Marrow drew their knees up to their chest, holding onto their ankles.

 _“Of course,”_ the dragon said with a rumble.

Marrow thought for a moment, but there was just one thing at the forefront of their mind.

“Will you let me go home?”

The dragon flinched, turning away from Marrow, and looking out across the lake. His tail snaked its way around them and squeezed lightly. _“No, never.”_

Marrow’s shoulders fell and they let a tear drop down their cheek, hands starting to shake. The dragon let out a sigh, ozone-smelling smoke rising from his nostrils.

_“If you go home, humans will follow you when you return to my side. I don’t want to deal with a mob of idiots coming to steal my scales or my hoard, and I don’t want a following either. I just want to die out here in peace.”_

“D-die?” Marrow asked, sniffing, and wiping their nose on the back of their sleeve.

 _“I…”_ the dragon looked back at Marrow and leaned his snout in close. When Marrow tried to scuttle away, he brought a paw up behind them, cupping them gently so they couldn’t escape. He pressed the tip of his snout into their soft stomach, taking in their scent mingled with his own and the strange floral soaps he’d brought for them. It was comforting. _“I will wither soon.”_

“W-what… what does that mean?” Marrow managed to ask through the panic of being so close to those teeth. The dragon growled, causing them to screw their eyes shut and flinch back against the warm scales of his palm.

 _“Dragons, elemental and pure magic dragons, the higher dragons… We can change our bodies at will. Our bodies obey our whims. If a dragon wishes their scales were blue, they become blue. If a dragon wants their horns to be longer and shinier, it is so. If a dragon decides on a whim to be as small as a fruit fly or the size of a mountain, they become so. The side-effect of such immense power is that dragons do not age. Our muscles do not slow, our hearts do not grow weary with too much beating, and our bones do not stiffen. That is, unless…”_ he looked Marrow in the eye, bracing himself for having to say it, _“unless the dragon themselves becomes burdened with exhaustion, tired of living, and so their body changes to suit their dark musings. That is the withering.”_

Marrow’s eyes flicked from looking at his left eye to his right and back again, unsure what to say or do at such a huge confession. The dragon who had taken them, who was keeping them against their will, was… dying?

“How… how soon will… will it happen?” they asked, a dark part of them they refused to acknowledge hoping it would be soon. It wasn’t that they resented the creature, not even after everything. They just wanted to go home, to feel safe and free again.

 _“Before the end of your lifetime,”_ the dragon said with certainty. _“Already I feel my muscles ache each time I fly, and the bones of my wrists creak and shudder. The others have what little of my hoard I had bothered to keep and will pass it on to the next Thunder Dragon.”_

“The… the next?”

 _“There must always be a Thunder Dragon,”_ he explained. _“Once I die, my body will decay, and where my heart once was an egg will appear. The world will not be without storms. This is another reason I can’t let you go, Marrow: now you know where I am, and that I will wither soon, humans may come to take the egg from my corpse. If they manage to kill the child, storms will fade, lightning won’t strike, thunder won’t clap, and a piece of nature itself will be stripped away.”_

“You… control every storm?” Marrow asked sheepishly.

_“No, no, not every storm. But my existence allows storms to exist. I am… a conduit for that piece of nature, a representative if you like. Perhaps you don’t think that removing storms would be a bad thing but imagine if humans stole the egg of my sister the Rain Dragon, or the Snow Dragon, or the Earth Dragon. Imagine if they got their hands on the egg of the Pure Magic Dragon of the Sun, or the Stars, or the Moon, or the Clouds, or the Sky. You are human. You should know better than I the intensity of human greed, even greater than that of the most prolific hoarding dragons. When do you think humans would stop if they discovered they could break our cycles of rebirth?”_

Marrow bowed their head. They couldn’t fault the dragon’s logic, having the misfortune to know a few human beings they knew wouldn’t hesitate to destroy a dragon egg if they found one, just to say that they had. They were also a scholar once, and history was a great teacher on the hubris of human beings. Still…

“Did you just tell me all this just so you’d have another excuse to keep me?” they muttered.

The dragon gave a single chuckle from his throat, reaching his thumb down to stroke Marrow’s hair. _“I need no excuses to keep you. No matter how much or how little I tell you, no dragon would interfere with what I have claimed as my own. It’s one of our most vital laws.”_

Marrow sank their face into their knees, despondent. “Why are you doing this to me?” Surprisingly, the dragon’s hand against their back froze, stiffening. The dragon blinked for a moment before turning away and growling low in the back of his throat. Marrow was too lost in the grief of never seeing their home again to be afraid of the sound of his irritation.

 _“Being mine is no punishment,”_ the dragon said. _“Do I not keep you healthy, and safe? Do I not hold you gently, and talk to you sweetly, and give you everything you ask for?”_

“I want to go home,” Marrow said, knuckles white as they gripped the fabric over their knees.

 _“I am your home now!”_ Marrow couldn’t help but wince as the force of those words blocked out every other thought in their head, making them dizzy. For just a moment, everything except those words was simply gone. There were no other ideas, no sensations, but those words. They felt themselves coming back slowly, finding themselves panting and holding their head in a painful grip. The dragon had shifted backwards a little, yellow eyes with slitted pupils darting over their whole body in concern. The hand at their back had moved away too.

The dragon’s concern didn’t last forever, though. Once Marrow was back, he reared up, his huge head hovering over them. _“To be the companion of an Elemental Dragon is a high honour few ever get to have. In every kingdom, the companion of a dragon is revered and respected, even worshipped! You would have riches, jewels, everything you’ve ever wanted. You’d have the protection of a creature almost nothing could oppose. You’d be able to see the far corners of the Earth, travel to places no human eyes would ever see, meet with creatures which would ordinarily never deign to speak to one of your species. The companions of dragons are the most powerful humans to ever exist! It is a position which millions would kill for, die for, do_ anything _for! And all I am asking of you is to stay with me, be by my side, love me and cherish my attentions as I cherish yours. Just let me adore you, little pet, and you will have the world at your feet.”_

“I…” Marrow stared at the dragon, the intensity of those yellow eyes frightening them. The dragon’s hand twitched behind them “I-I… I don’t n-nee-need the w-world…”

The dragon snarled and reared even higher, causing Marrow to flinch until they felt the warm palm push against their back, lifting them into the air.

_“You dare to reject such an offer?”_

“I-I-I’m really f-fla-attered, honest!” Marrow put up their hands in what they hoped was a placating gesture. “A-a-and the o-off-ffer is re-really, r-really um… it’s gen-generous! But a-all I w-want is to h-help run my- m-my un-uncle’s shop.”

The dragon glared, but he didn’t have time to speak his mind, as a bugle sounded and a figure in full armour crashed through the trees.

“Have at thee!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow so it has been a whole ass month. sorry you guys. i was kind of running on low motivation for a while there but i didn't give up!!! i gotta thank my friend madrastic especially for giving me a kick up the arse the other day to keep going with this even though i was feeling a bit down on it. hopefully i'll be quicker with chapter seven. thanks so much for sticking with me on this!!


	7. Dragons Kill

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY HEADS UP!  
> this chapter has some of that tagged gore, as well as referenced (not depicted) past parental abuse due to transphobia. there's also a very minor, immediately-corrected misgendering of my main character Marrow. if that stuff could bring up some bad memories or is just uncomfortable for you please make yourself a nice cup of tea and take care of yourselves instead of reading, or read with caution if you'd like. much love!

The knight’s stance was wide, their drawn sword glittering in the midday sun. Marrow watched in awe and fear as the figure let out a battle cry and ran forward, cape billowing in the breeze, sword pointed at the dragon’s exposed underbelly.

“Wait, don’t!” Marrow cried just as the sword made contact. It connected with the dragon’s flank with a clatter. He flinched, huffing smoke, and threw them off, but the knight was swift and steady on their feet. They recovered quickly, dashing behind the rock Marrow was perched on, and the frightened apprentice could see them twisting their fingers together in a familiar protection ward – a shield spell. The dragon lunged toward Marrow, teeth bared, and they let out a shrill scream of instinctive fear as those gigantic canines latched onto the fabric of their jumper and lifted them into the air. The dragon tucked them under his flank, lowering himself protectively over them. Marrow was forced to crouch down, staining the knees of their trousers in the mud.

 _“You have no business here in the realm of forest-dwellers, human,”_ the dragon’s voice echoed in Marrow’s head, filled with vitriolic spite. It took them a moment to realise he was speaking to the knight, and another for their heart to stop pounding with the fear they’d be ripped apart.

“A powerful family received word of a heinous misdeed, worm,” the knight said, bold confidence in their voice. “I represent the Talonfeathers!”

“Uncle Davis?” Marrow questioned softly.

“Nay, young maiden, t’was your mother and father, though they are apparently estranged. They wish to rescue you and have hired only the greatest of warriors to their cause!”

“Um,” Marrow hesitated, “well, uh, actually, I don’t um… I’m not a maiden.”

“My apologies!” the knight corrected, hand over their heart. “May I ask…?”

“They/them.”

“Splendiferous! I myself identify as a man, and moreover a gallant hero,” the knight laughed heartily, drawing their sword. “So, fair individual of the Talonfeather clan, I hereby declare that your mother and father, though evidently misled on your identification, have poured out their hearts in concern for your safety, and have paid I, Mage-Knight Gregory Bartholomew, a hearty sum for your safe return! Despair no longer!” He bashed his sword against his shield, sending sparks flying, and locked eyes with the dragon. “Unhand them, snake!”

 _“No,”_ the dragon said simply, tail swishing low. _“If you attempt to take them, I will leave nothing for your family to bury. I will give you one, and only one, chance to leave this sacred grove in peace.”_

The knight laughed again, twirling his sword like a baton at a parade. “We shall see whose corpse is left to stain these damned meadows!”

The dragon reared back and let loose a crack of lightning from his gaping maw. Marrow could feel the heat radiating from his stomach, the crackle of electricity in the air lifting a few of their ginger curls. The knight raised their shield and, sure enough, Marrow noticed the tell-tale shimmer of a protection spell across his now-smoking shoulders. He charged forward, swinging his sword, the dragon ducking back just in time so that the swing went wide. The knight raised his shield to deflect a blow from the dragon’s claws and was almost knocked prone by the blow, deep gashes appearing in the solid steel. After a split second to register the damage done, he used the momentum of the strike to roll back and mutter an incantation, a bright purple flash appearing. It became a beam which collided with Marrow’s chest. They felt themselves being pulled, a gentle but urgent pressure dragging them forwards, where their wellington boots connected not with mud and grass, but with a familiar rug. Hazily, as if viewing them through a fog, they saw the hand of their mother reach through the veil, stretched towards them. They reached back, meeting their mother’s eyes for the first time in over a year. Her face was cold and commanding, as stern as they remembered it on the day they left, and the shock of seeing that expression again broke the trance. They ripped themselves away, stumbling back and falling in the mud, the portal becoming a thin sliver of purple energy before vanishing completely.

They didn’t register what they had done until the smell of blood hit their nose. The dragon was still above them; his scales were close enough to reach from their position flat on their back. Where the knight-mage had been, there was now a bloody mess of twisted metal and gore. They heard the dragon swallowing, smacking his lips, and that was when it hit them: Gregory Bartholomew had known he’d die in battle. Marrow’s parents probably knew it too. He’d given his life to send them home, and they had been too much of a coward to honour his sacrifice.

Above them, the dragon chewed loudly on the remains of the knight-mage whose death now meant nothing. The crunch of bones breaking like glass between monstrous teeth shook Marrow to their core, and they scrambled backwards in the dirt until they were out from under the dragon’s shadow, curling up and covering their ears as tears started in their eyes.

“It’s all my fault, it’s all my fault, it’s all my fault,” they muttered, hiccupping sobs escaping trembling lips.

 _“Hardly,”_ the dragon said, a claw lifting to pick at a piece of armour which had become lodged between his teeth. _“The few humans aware of this place know not to come here. He signed his sentence when he brought violence to this part of the forest.”_

“You killed him,” Marrow whispered, their voice so breathy and quiet they weren’t sure at first if the dragon hard heard them.

 _“Of course. He was only a mage. Even an archmage could not have withstood me, even at my weakest.”_ The dragon used a claw to scoop a large glob of stringy viscera from the remains of the armour.

“He was trying to rescue me…” Marrow muttered. “He died trying to save me, and I…”

 _“From what?!”_ the dragon interrupted, suddenly turning to them with fury and blood on his snout. Marrow’s mouth closed with a click. _“You are_ safe _with_ me _, Marrow. Safe, and protected, and valued. You don’t need anything else, shouldn’t_ want _anything else!”_ Marrow stayed silent, tears falling down their cheeks. This was what the dragon really was, then. With all the gentle affection, the careful attention, the stolen gifts, Marrow had thought of the dragon as a person who could be reasoned with, a person who they could persuade, maybe even someone who might value them enough to let them go.

But no. This was the truth: the dragon was a monster. 

The dragon didn’t see Marrow as anything but another trinket for his hoard. The dragon had called them a pet, and only now did Marrow see what that meant: Marrow wasn’t a person at all, not to him. With this realisation, and the fear it brought, the full extent of their horrible mistake set in. At least they could outrun their mother and father, escape to the seaside city of Tadam, to their uncle’s little shop, but the dragon? There was no outrunning the dragon, no corner where Marrow could hide away. They had not only failed to honour the ultimate sacrifice which gave them a brief glimpse of – not freedom, but something close to it – but they’d also chosen the more inescapable of two prisons.

And so, as if the past year had never happened, they slid back into the numb acceptance in which they’d lived their life under their parents’ roof.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoa that took a while! sorry about that. i got kind of discouraged and went on to other non-internet projects, but i'm back on it now with some much-needed and very-much-appreciated encouragement from my good friends, especially LurKingFisher and Sekiraku - and thanks to Seki especially for looking over my chapter for me before i put it here.


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